The following plan is offered as a guide for faculty and staff training in specific areas of electronic commerce at the twelve community colleges in the Western North Carolina Technology Consortium.

Purpose of the Training

The HB 275 Grant Application emphasized employing a “train the trainer” concept for the 12 colleges. The training proposed will employ short courses in the various e-commerce disciplines. Faculty and staff will be able to select what they need to be able to teach e-commerce courses or to have a better understanding of the subject. The Grant Application estimated that 180 staff and faculty would be able to take advantage of some training (an average of 15 people at each institution). Regional training sites would be used to reduce the drive time for attendees. Courses are limited to college employees. Release time reimbursement and travel reimbursement funds are available for those who qualify.

Who Should Take the Training

1. Continuing Education Faculty, particularly those who will be involved with web development courses. The Consortium has provided one server and three networked computers for the purpose of providing e-commerce students a location to incubate their websites. Instructors teaching these skills may take specific web design and web posting training. Faculty teaching business and industry courses may need to enhance their knowledge of e-commerce.

2. Curriculum Faculty, particularly those who will be teaching the required concentration courses for the Business Administration/E-commerce Program (A2512I). Two of the twelve Consortium colleges offer the program and it is anticipated that seven more will begin offering it in the fall of 2001. Faculty teaching related courses in business and service career programs may need to enhance their knowledge of e-commerce.

3. College Support Staff, including business office personnel, public information officers, counselors and administrators. This group is involved indirectly in electronic business and would benefit by increasing their understanding of some e-commerce concepts.

4. College Information Technology Staff, particularly those at each college who will be working with the continuing education staff and instruction to incubate and post web sites.

Courses

Each training course will be three (3) hours in length. Most courses will be held in computer labs. Any course can be offered again or new courses added, based on demand. If practical, courses may be offered on-line. The initial courses are shown in the attached schedule. New courses can be developed as needed. All courses shall have a course outline that is approved by the Consortium and is consistent among the 12 community colleges. The Consortium will issue letters or certificates of completion. The courses, including materials, will be offered at no cost to college employees. Each course should have at least ten registrants. All registration will be done electronically through the Consortium’s web site.

Site Coordination

Courses will be offered at the five designated regional training sites (Blue Ridge, Haywood, McDowell, Tri-county and Wilkes). Additional locations may be added based on demand or need. The Consortium, in conjunction with the hosting college, will handle all advertising for the courses. Each regional training site will have a person designated to assist in securing classrooms and to act as a local coordinator. The Consortium’s Web Developer/Trainer will coordinate the training with the site coordinators who may select the order of courses offered, recruit their own instructors and schedule them for convenient dates and times. Since there is no registration, each college should insure that those who register do attend the training.

Contract Administration

The Consortium shall offer a particular listed course with a designated location and instructor. The Consortium shall approve in advance, the maximum instructor fee. If the course gains the required number of registrants, a contract with the instructor shall be executed. The contract shall be a “part-time” type contract and shall be between the instructor and the college at which the course will be offered. Upon completion of the course, the host college shall pay the instructor and subsequently request reimbursement from the project’s fiscal agent (BRCC).

Initiation of Training Courses

Local site coordinators may begin now to select courses. Plans should be coordinated with the Consortium’s Web Developer/Trainer. All project funds must be expended by June 30, 2002.

General Courses

Specialized Courses

Other Courses